I have just opened a letter summoning my housemate and me to the local magistrates’ court for non-payment of council tax.
The last letter giving us a telling-off proved to be less severe than it claimed to be. How bad is the situation we are now in? Exactly how worried should I be?
We divide responsibility for bills between us (paying equal shares), and the council tax is his responsibility. I am the kind of person who pays everything by direct debit, or makes online payments immediately on receiving a bill. Such situations are alien to me. I’ve intercepted a few letters over past months reminding us to make payment, final demands, and notification of cancellation of direct debit. It’s pretty clear that my housemate is not on top of things.
The back of the summons states that if we pay the outstanding balance in full (~£1500). I can get this from my savings if necessary, so we can settle the bill in time. Will there be any lasting effect of this, either on credit rating, criminal record and so forth?
We’re both young(ish!) professionals in reasonably good jobs. He supports his mother financially, and pays all her bills too, which is extremely good of him. He is also a hardcore gambler, and has been known to stake his entire bank balance on a horse (which won, thankfully). I’m inclined to be as sympathetic as I can, and fight my instinct to, er, express my disappointment emphatically, but I certainly welcome advice in how to deal with this. He hasn’t yet got home to read the letter.
Notification of cancellation of direct debit? So they cancelled the direct debit and are now saying you haven’t paid?
You are unlikely to get a sympathetic hearing from the courts. You appear to have ignored at least one letter. You will get the court costs added to your bill. And you do not want your credit rating toasted with a CCJ. Pay it immediately and sort it out between the two of you. Or boot him and get a more financially responsible housemate.
The immediate problem of the outstanding council tax may not be so bad if you get it straightened out asap. Phone the council tomorrow to find out the score here - it will be worth establishing if they will accept monthly payment of the outstanding balance, or whether a lump sum needs to be laid down. I would expect there to be some give and take here if you are credible with your reasons for not paying thus far. What you absolutely do not want to happen is for the bailiffs to get involved - which will happen if the situation is not remedied in the short term and costs will start to spiral.
In the bigger picture you have a serious problem in that your finances are entwined with those of a gambling man. You should extricate yourself from this situation with haste as no good can come of it. Who’s name is the council tax bill in? From your post, it sounds like it is in your housemate’s name and he is the person who owes the £1500 as that was his lookout. I wouldn’t dream of fronting up £1500 of my savings to pay a gambler’s council tax bill - I’m laughing just at the thought of it.
A direct debit is only any good if the funds are available to cover it.
The cancellation means that the option to pay the bill in instalments over 10 months has been withdrawn, and that the full balance owed for 2009/2010 is now required in one hit.
I don’t have the letter to hand, as it is filed in housemate’s room, but I recall the letter being confirmation that [housemate] had cancelled his direct debit. He says that he didn’t do this, but did cancel a different DD; I can well believe that he simply clicked on the wrong button as an honest mistake. Whatever his failings, his moral character and integrity are beyond question.
The mis-click wouldn’t have mattered had we not already been on our last chance…
<edit>
The bill is in both our names, we arbitrarily chose it to be his responsibility when we split the bills.
Yes, he is a gentleman gambler, but he is no reprobate. We otherwise have very good relations, though I am now less inclined to trust him with responsibility, ultimately, for my credit rating.
If it’s anything like the one I received, it is (again) not as serious as it appears to be. Provided you pay the money swiftly, proceedings won’t go ahead, although you are not *required *to attend either way.
Assuming it is the same as the one I got and that it doesn’t vary too much depending on the council, don’t worry overly. Go to the council offices, explain and double check, and then pay them.
Unpaid council tax is a Crown debt (money owed to the government), as opposed to a commercial debt. So if things were to deteriorate in this instance to the point that a bailiff showed up on your doorstep, he/she would have the right to force entry, which would not be the case for collection of a commercial debt.